"That bastard... where the hell did you come from?!" Nito cursed aloud as he charged forward, colliding head-on with Snow.
Against Snow ..
Nito had been stripped of his strongest weapon.
It was like possessing a nuclear warhead... yet being completely unable to use it.
The Light Soul Aura empowered Snow instead of weakening or harming him.
"And here I thought the Shadow Sect was my only enemy..." Nito sneered.
"Who would’ve guessed a killer whale like you was hiding among those fish called humans..."
Sparks exploded as Vermithor and Slitherine clashed.
Snow now fought at full power.
Yet despite Nito being deprived of his greatest weapon, Snow gained no advantage.
His opponent was simply... too strong.
Snow’s eyes glowed beneath his helmet as he began planning his next move.
"This bastard is tougher than I expected... underestimating him was reckless."
As their blades collided, Snow’s mind analyzed every detail.
"High-rank demons tend to rely blindly on the world-breaking abilities they receive from Agaroth .. because they’re absurdly powerful."
"Usually, they end battles quickly using them..."
"But this one is different."
BOOOOM!!!
Their auras exploded, and Nito began to gain the upper hand unmistakably.
"He identified my identity almost immediately... and completely abandoned the use of the Light Soul against me."
"And even so... his raw strength is still overwhelming."
Indeed—Nito was monstrously powerful.
Even without the Light Soul, he was stronger than Zibar, the former Tenth high Seat.
"It was foolish of you to think I was like the other demons, New Lord of Light."
Nito struck with brutal force, driving Snow back again and again as his armor shattered further with each collision.
"Before I became one of the Ten High Demons..."
"I was a Dragon Emperor ... the rank directly beneath Midir, the Dragon God."
"In other words—"
BOOOOOM!!!
With a lightning-fast strike, Nito pierced through Snow’s defense, carving a deep gash across his body as blood scattered through the void of space.
"Even without the Light Soul... defeating you is easy."
Nito had gained complete dominance.
Snow retreated.
He said nothing ..
instead focusing entirely on healing the damage as quickly as possible.
His aura slowly expanded as he drew more and more of the Light Soul’s power.
"His strength is immense... and his greatest threat is likely his sheer durability."
Nito’s body belonged to the Pantheon ..
the most resilient beings in existence.
In other words, surpassing or matching them in raw power was nearly impossible.
And yet ..
Snow did not retreat.
"Winning this battle isn’t possible at my current level..."
"The Light Soul is the only ability in my arsenal that surpasses him."
Snow healed his injuries... then returned to the battle once more.
"Other than the Light Soul... I possess two additional world-breaking abilities," Snow thought.
"But I can’t use them right now. One of them requires SSS-tier Aura... and the other resides with my other half .. Orested."
Without those abilities, Snow saw no path to victory.
And yet .. he continued fighting anyway.
With every clash... every strike...
his body suffered more and more damage .. but he endured.
"What exactly are you trying to achieve here, Lord of Light?" Nito asked coldly.
"I know you’re not foolish."
BOOOOM!!
Nito unleashed another wave of blue fire, forcing Snow to retreat further.
"You know you can’t defeat me. So why do you keep fighting in such a naïve way?"
Nito swung his sword with terrifying speed, tightening the pressure relentlessly.
"You know that as a Pantheon, I hold the absolute advantage in close combat thanks to my physical strength—yet you keep approaching me regardless."
BOOOOM!!
"I don’t know how you can use the Light Soul as well... but it won’t help you against me."
"So tell me .. how exactly do you plan to survive?"
Nito demanded again.
Snow said nothing.
He simply attacked—without uttering a single word.
Wounds multiplied across his body.
His armor shattered into pieces with every collision.
Seeing this, Nito’s expression darkened further and further.
"...I see. You don’t intend to speak."
Suddenly .. Nito’s sword vanished.
At the same time, the flow of Aura around him changed completely.
The moment Snow sensed it, his expression fell.
An overwhelming amount of Aura erupted from Nito’s body.
Then—in the blink of an eye—
Nito’s form began to expand... and expand... until it transformed into something so horrifying that Snow instinctively tried to retreat.
But it was too late.
Nito had already entered his monstrous form.
A colossal dragon spread its wings wide—
completely blotting out the stars and planets.
Nito’s body was unique:
sky-blue scales, with strange crystalline formations embedded throughout his massive frame.
Snow had no time to observe him for long.
The moment Nito completed his transformation, his power surged catastrophically ..
—and instantly—
He opened his jaws toward Snow.
An overwhelming torrent of blue flame erupted forth, forming a roaring beam that swallowed Snow completely.
Snow couldn’t withstand it.
The sheer pressure of the flame crushed him, hurling him downward at impossible speed .. straight toward Earth.
No matter how hard he resisted, he couldn’t endure it.
He tore through the atmosphere at extreme velocity, his body burning in both blue and red flames, crashing uncontrollably until he reached a region of the planet.
His descent never slowed.
And then ..
Impact.
A catastrophic collision that shook an entire continent, as if a meteor had struck.
Snow fell somewhere within the Southern Nightmare Continent .. one of the nightmare lands.
It was clear.
He had lost the battle decisively.
Nito remained hovering in space, his enormous wings spread wide as he stared toward the location where Snow had fallen.
Judging by the devastation, Nito assumed his opponent was now on the verge of death.
To be certain ..
He opened his mouth again, forming another massive sphere of blue flame, then released it as a beam that devoured everything in its path .. slamming down upon the impact site and detonating it with terrifying force.
It was a horrifying display of destructive power .. the might of a Ninth high demon.
Once it was over, Nito roared arrogantly, wondering whether this really was the First Lord of Light he had heard about.
Snow had seemed far too weak.
But as those thoughts crossed his mind ..
Nito’s eyes suddenly widened.
His attention snapped back to the battlefield where Amon, Gehrman, and Frey were fighting.
"What the hell is this ominous feeling?!"
Even in his monstrous form, Nito sensed something strange.
Something dreadful.
Something profoundly ominous.
Without hesitation, he beat his massive wings and rushed toward his ally Amon .. leaving space to fall silent once more.
The final battlefield was destined to be the place where everything had begun.
And Nito had secured his seat there.
Meanwhile...
On the Southern Nightmare Continent—where Snow had fallen—
A colossal crater now scarred the land.
The pit was filled with blue volcanic magma, born from Nito’s flames.
Amidst the devastation and ruin...
Snow lay there.
His current state resembled nothing more than a mangled pile of bloodied flesh.
Not the radiant warrior he once was.
Just as Nito had assumed ..
Snow was now dangerously close to death.
And yet...
Snow laughed.
He laughed with difficulty, blood spilling from his mouth with every breath.
His Lost War Form hadn’t saved him.
His golden armor hadn’t endured.
But still .. he laughed loudly.
With great effort, he raised his blood-soaked arm toward the sky ..revealing something resting in his hand.
A sphere.
A sphere of pure light.
"Hehehe... you may be clever, Ninth high Seat... huff... huff... but you failed to see the full picture while fighting me."
Snow grasped the sphere of light and pressed it against his chest.
A brilliant radiance enveloped him, healing his body piece by piece .. merging with him at tremendous speed and granting him immense power.
"I had to fight you up close..."
"...because that was the only way to steal this from you .. without you noticing."
Snow smiled bloodily... then closed his eyes, finally relaxing.
The sphere of light disappeared deep within him.
The Light Soul was finally complete.
The entire battle had been nothing more than a performance ..
a carefully executed act Snow played to the very end, enduring everything while siphoning the Light Soul away from Nito.
The Light Soul was naturally drawn to him .. making the process easier.
Snow executed it so perfectly that even now ..
Nito still hadn’t realized it was gone.
Snow lost the battle.
But he won something far more important.
Closing his eyes, he let his consciousness drift away .. into the darkness.